After the Future: Story Starter
by DesertAnubis
Summary: Danny is part of a league defending against ghosts, but feel like he no longer belongs in the fight... Story starters are meant for you to finish.


Story Starter

After the Future

*Story starters are meant for you to finish. For more info, see my userpage here: .net/u/2078100/

* * *

Danny sat up and yawned. He had black hair, though as of a few years ago, it was more usually silver when he wasn't sleeping. He dragged himself into a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt, though he was usually dressed in a black uniform with silver boots and gloves, with a D emblazoned on it, a P skillfully woven into the same image. He rubbed his blue eyes, trying to get the sleep out of them, though they usually glowed green.

Danny did not have a multiple identity disorder. He just had a different appearance when he was saving the world. And now that his secret was out, practically no one wanted the normal Danny Fenton. No one wanted to give him time to rest.

Luckily, though, in this context, his family was a 'no one'… or at least his mother and sister were nobodies. His father… not so much. Another good point was that his mother, Maddie Fenton, was good at inventing things, and had set up his room with several inventions to prevent any unwanted attention while he was trying to sleep.

He was part ghost. He had become that at the age of fourteen, and had very shortly thereafter decided to use his powers to protect people, though he had decided to keep it a secret during that time. Eventually, though, with a threat everyone could see, Danny's secret was found out. He saved the world with his powers, and since then, he had been in high demand. So much so that his family had been able to upgrade their lab considerably, rebuild their ghost portal, and proof their home against intruders.

After many questions and prying, he finally told them to go after Valerie, that she would be very keen to set up a ghost-hunting league. Valerie was a fellow ghost-hunter, though until Danny had revealed his secret, she had been mostly hunting him. She was delighted with the offer, and soon had an entire organization.

Though, for some vengeful reason, she met with Danny's parents before he had any wind of the plan, and his house had undergone yet another upgrade to become the headquarters of the Ectoplasmic Defense League (EDL).

Why she called it that, he had no idea.

He had been pressured into joining after Valerie got everyone else into it, so even his own personal ghost-fighting league, his two best friends, were part of Valerie's grand scheme.

There were several departments, each pertaining to a different scope of ghost-fighting, one of which was Intelligence, which was led by Danielle, a clone of Danny when Danny's then archrival 'wanted his power'. Danni had since then become close friends with her 'cousin', and though her form was incomplete and prone to destabilizing and degenerating into goo, they had found a substance (ironically developed by his father, intended to weaken ghosts but doing quite the opposite) that could stabilize her for a good length of time. Danni was good at infiltration, so she headed the small faction of ghosts who had joined their side, including Wulf, a werewolf-like ghost capable of a little speech.

Another was Research, which was headed by Jazz, Danny's sister. She categorized all the spirits they encountered and studied the various 'specimens' brought back from forays into the ghost zone. She had tried this originally when she found out about Danny's powers, but had failed miserably. Now, though, she was wiser, and had an excellent team to back her up.

Next was Weapons Development, and though Jack (Danny's father, and a bit of a bumbling fool) tried desperately to head this group, command was given to the rather more dependable Maddie Fenton, his wife. With the information gained from the Research division, they upgraded their weapons to be more effective against the ghosts they hunted. Other Development was led by Tucker, one of Danny's best friends and fellow ghost-hunters. He was a techno geek from the start, but with this new position, his affinity surpassed that of even the highest level government agents, and he often had to turn down their offers to hire him.

The Medical and Field Team departments were the only two not headed by anyone Danny knew. A gentle but brilliant woman named Dr. Mara Forner headed the medical group, while the field teams were led by a man named Steven Borders.

The entire operation, however, was owned by Valerie – she was the president. Danny was a freelancer who held just as much command, though he had two important limitations: he could not shut down the organization, and though he didn't have to obey Valerie, he couldn't override her orders.

That, and an unwritten, unspoken one: he couldn't leave the organization.

He yawned and rubbed his eyes again. _Great. Another day…_

* * *

"Good to see we're all _awake_." Valerie laid a slight emphasis on the word as Danny yawned for the umpteenth time. "Danny, Sam, Tucker, and myself will approach Frostbite and his people – they're clear allies of our cause, and the EDL council has decided we need a research lab in the ghost zone itself. Frostbite's home is the most logical place to put it – it's relatively isolated, and we'll be among allies."

Danny let his head fall on his arms. He knew perfectly well why he was going, why Valerie was going, and why Tucker was going. Sam, his other best friend, was one he didn't particularly want to part with, so he didn't mind if she came along. Bereft of an excuse to complain, he yawned again. "So when do we leave?"

Valerie glanced at her watch. "Oh-eight-hundred hours. That's in twenty-two minutes. Get yourselves ready and down to the ghost portal by that time. And no excuses for skipping out." She added sternly in Danny's general direction.

He waved vaguely. "I won't, I won't."

She sighed. "Dismissed." Out in the hall, she dragged him aside. "Danny, what's gotten into you? You've been real out of it lately. I know this is a lot of publicity, but ghost attacks have been coming a lot more often now. We _need_ an organization like this to keep ahead of the game."

He looked away and spotted Sam. He sighed. He could really use her support. "I don't know. It just seems like ghost-hunting isn't as important anymore."

"It is too! If anything, it's even more important!" She hissed. "Danny, please. The world needs you to keep fighting."

He was studying the ceiling now, his eyes having lost their usual devil-may-care luster. "Val… I'll meet you downstairs, I promise."

She hesitated, then let him go. If he was calling her Val, now, things were really bad. She spotted Sam as well and hurried over. "Sam…"

She glanced up. "He's been that way for a while now."

"You're the only one who can really get through to him. At least try," Valerie begged. "He's probably more important than any of us."

She nodded and moved away, her black hair tossed down in front of her right eye. She glanced at one of the monitoring screens as their various satellites floated through the ghost zone. Danny leaning on a windowsill, gazing out as Amity Park began to wake up.

She leaned her back against it, and he looked up. Sam was dressed in black, lined with purple. Her heavy makeup added to the overall Goth appearance she preferred. He sighed. "Sam… I just don't feel right about all this. I don't think I belong anymore."

"You belonged before?" She snorted in amusement.

"But things were all right then. I was allowed to be me. I messed up, but I always had friends I could count on, friends who would forgive me. Here… I guess it's just too _professional_."

Sam laughed. "I won't argue with you there. This is a bit much for me too." She tilted her head back so she could see his face. "You made a promise to me, remember? After you saved the world, and everyone was praising your name?"

He smiled briefly and looked down at the glass ring on her finger. "I said that even though we'd get busy, I'd still want us to stay together. Not exactly a promise, Sam."

She shrugged. "It was a promise to me. You promised you'd be with me, even when things got busy. Things are busy…" She paused, considering him, then smirked. "…but I don't think you're with me."

He gave a start and looked up. "What do you mean, Sam?"

"You're not _you_. You got tired and unhappy. You lost all your spirit and you don't care anymore. That's not my Danny."

He digested this as he looked back out the window. Finally, he hung his head and played with a stray scrap of paint. "This entire operation just isn't me." He said softly. "It was fun doing it with just us. We were the front line, we were the heroes. But now that we've made it 'easier', we're not. We're just part of the package." He looked up. "Sam… I don't think I can keep this up. It's not quite my style. I just…"

"Wish it was just you again? I know what you mean." Sam looked away. "It _is_ kind of annoying that the show is being forced on us, rather than us getting to choose whether we want to play the hero or not."

After a long silence, Sam said quietly, "Even though I didn't want you to, I was kind of happy you gave up your powers. Since you could. And that you tried to get them back. It meant you were choosing. Now, unless you're intent on starting a war with the entire media, you can't back out of being the hero."

"So what do I do, Sam?" He asked.

She was silent. She could see Valerie watching them from where she pretended to be monitoring people watching the satellites. A ghost appeared through the floor and shot through the ceiling to report. A similar ghost drifted across one of the screens.

"I'm not going to force you, but you should probably hold on until you're eighteen. I'm already eighteen, and you don't have far to go."

He turned. "And then what?"

She gave him a sideways look. "You really don't know, do you?"

There was a slight pause. "What do you mean?"

She laughed. "Until you figure it out, stay with the organization. If you turn eighteen and still haven't figured it out, I'll tell you. But only then."

* * *

"As for what you get in return, we're open to negotiation." Valerie finished. The four of them were in an ice cave, facing the leader of the yeti, Frostbite. He and his people were one of the very few factions who openly supported the human world.

"Hm, now that would be advantageous for you, indeed." He thought about it. "Very well. We would require in exchange only that you share some of your knowledge… impending threats, that sort of thing, but we're mostly interested in your… uh… ice cream. If you would be willing to share your recipes with us."

"Of course." Valerie nodded, trying hard to keep a straight face. "I'll bring you the best ice cream makers, and we'll give you a heads-up on anything we think is important."

"You will want to stay the night – there is a blizzard you will not be able to escape from quickly enough in your vessel. Do not worry, we have warm caves." He added as they glanced at each other, accurately reading their less-than-enthusiastic reaction. "Our young have need of great warmth too. This way."

* * *

Long into the night, Danny lay awake, listening to the howling of the winds outside. Finally, he couldn't stand it, and got to his feet.

"Danny?" A soft voice whispered, and he looked back.

"I'm just going for a walk around the cave." He left.

Sam watched the entrance for only a moment before she got up. She stepped carefully around her sleeping teammates and hurried out after him. "Danny, wait up. I'll come with you."

Danny looked back, then blinked. "What are you doing up, Tucker?" He asked as their technologically savvy friend came yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"Dude, it's been a little too long since we walked around as friends. Mind if I join you?"

They looked at each other, then smiled simultaneously. "Sure, Tuck." Sam held out a hand, and he took it, grinning with relief.

"Thought you guys'd forget about me."

"No way, Tucker." Danny laughed quietly. "Never. We're best friends."

* * *

"Miss Valerie? Miss Valerie, please arise."

She stirred and stretched, then hopped up. "Yes, what is it?" She asked as she stifled a yawn.

"Your friends… did they attempt to return?"

"Wha…?" She stared around, and she frowned. "Not to my knowledge. Do you know where they went?"

"No… I was hoping you did." Frostbite looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Then I'll find them, Frostbite. Don't worry. And I don't blame you, either. If anything, it's my fault for not watching them." She hurried past him and out into the snow. It wasn't a blizzard anymore, but there was still some good downpour. She activated her suit, which shot across her skin, changing her appearance almost literally into a robot. A techno-enhanced surf board appeared under her feet, and she flew off into the snow, tapping her ear as she did. "Danny, come in, this is Valerie. Sam? Tucker? Do you read? Please respond. Danny! Sam! Tucker! Come in, this is Valerie!"

Tucker stirred at the voice. It sounded distorted, even though their radios were high-definition.

_Glitch._ Automatically, his mind set about repairing it. _Gotta re-tune it. It probably got jostled off the right frequency._

It was a long moment before he realized he was repairing it… without moving.

At this, he opened his eyes. Across from him, Sam was lying in the snow, but she was dressed a little differently than she had been last time he had seen her.

_When was that… three hours and thirty-six minutes ago._ He blinked. _How do I know that?_

He sat up, rubbing his eyes. _Visual malfunction. Repairing…_ He stopped himself and looked at his hands. They were normal. As he stared at them, they came into finer detail. He looked around and realized to his shock that everything was in clear focus, even though it was equally as obvious that he didn't have his glasses. "Now why is that?" He wondered vaguely.

"_Come in, Sam, Tucker, Danny! This is Valerie!"_

He gave a start and accessed the radio. "This is Tucker, do you read?"

"_Tucker! Thank God. Where are you?"_

He paused. Again, he had accessed something without moving at all. He frowned. "Uh… unknown. Sam is unconscious." He glanced around and found Danny a short ways away.

"_What about Danny?"_

He got up, lifted Sam, and hurried over. "Same." He reached down. "But they're both very cold. You'd better get here quick." He accessed his coordinates and sent them across the radio. "That's where we are."

"_Great, at least I was heading in the right direction. But how did you upload them directly to my tracking device?"_

Tucker paused and sat back. He was quiet for a moment, then said, "Not sure. Something funky is going on, as though I've got some telepathic link to my instruments and whatnot. Hey, just get here, would you? Their internal temperatures are dropping, and I don't have anything that can keep them warm for much longer. And I'm just as curious about this as I'm sure you're not, so I'd like to get back as soon as possible."

She laughed. _"Right."_

* * *

Back at the base, Tucker deposited his gadgets, and immediately, he could feel it. He didn't have a connection with them anymore. Confused, he picked one up, and automatically, he could access it, without even doing anything to it. It was the GPS, Z format for the ghost zone. Before he could fidget more with it, someone hurried down to him. "Sir, you should come to the infirmary."

He dropped the gadget.

"Sam's fine, in fact, she's doing much better than we expected, and should awaken any minute now. But Danny…"

Tucker hurried to his friend's side. Danny was lying so still it was impossible to detect any breath in him.

The realization hit Tucker so hard that he buckled.

Danny was dead.

* * *

Is Danny really dead?  
Why does Tucker have these weird powers?  
What is this organization up to (if anything)?  
What else does the organization do?  
What else can Tucker do?  
What about Sam? Does she get any extra powers?  
What happened when they went off into that blizzard?  
Where did they go?  
How did Danny die (if he did)?  
What did Sam want to tell Danny when he turned 18?

I got to 17,424 words with this story, apparently. So I'm pretty sure you can come up with something. ;)


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